LSAT 105 – Section 1 – Question 02

LSAT 105 - Section 1 - Question 02

February 1999

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT105 S1 Q02
+LR
Argument part +AP
A
0%
165
B
1%
147
C
99%
165
D
0%
135
E
0%
173
121
129
136
 +Easiest 147.243 +SubsectionMedium

Tennyson’s line of poetry “nature, red in tooth and claw” is misconstrued by many evolutionists as a reference to Darwin’s theory of evolution. The poem in which the line appears was published in 1850, but Darwin kept his theory closely held until publishing it in 1859. In addition, in view of the context provided by the rest of the poem, the line was clearly meant to refer to the dominant biological theory of the early nineteenth century, which was a creationist theory.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
Evolutionists who believe that a line of Tennyson’s poetry refers to Darwin’s theory of evolution are wrong. How do we know this? Firstly, the poem in question was published nine years before Darwin revealed his theory. This implies that Tennyson probaby didn’t know about Darwin’s theory when he wrote this poem. Secondly, looking at the poem as a whole, the line actually seems to refer to a creationist theory of biology. This gives us a different explanation for the line of poetry, totally independent of Darwin.

Identify Argument Part
The claim about the publication dates of Tennyson’s poem and Darwin’s theory supports the conclusion by suggesting that Tennyson was unaware of Darwin’s theory and so could not have been referencing it.

A
It casts doubt on whether the theory of evolution should be attributed to Darwin alone.
The author never discusses who was involved in developing Darwin’s theory. Like (D), no part of the argument does this.
B
It supports the claim that creationist theories of biology were dominant in the early nineteenth century.
The claim about publication dates is totally independent from the claim about a creationist theory being dominant in the early nineteenth century. Neither supports the other, they just each support the same conclusion.
C
It provides reason to believe that Tennyson did not know about Darwin’s theory when the poem was published.
This describes the role played by the claim about publication dates. The author uses this claim to cast doubt on Tennyson’s supposed reference to Darwin’s theory by implying that Tennyson had probably never encountered Darwin’s theory.
D
It suggests that Tennyson’s line provided Darwin with the inspiration for developing his theory.
The author never discusses what influences may have helped to inspire Darwin in developing his theory. Like (A), this is outside the scope of the argument.
E
It implies that Tennyson knew little about the dominant biological theories of the nineteenth century.
The claim about publication dates is irrelevant to Tennyson’s knowledge of evolutionary theories. At most, it implies that Tennyson didn’t know about a single unpublished theory.

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LSAT PrepTest 105 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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